Friday, February 20, 2004

2/20/04 - This year's Barleywine is a showcase for the subtlety of the S-hops: Simcoe and Santiam. These hops were featured in all the additions except for the dry hops, where we used Horizons. You gotta love the smoothness of the bittering character of those Simcoes, even at 90 IBUs, which by the way was a slight drop from last years 100 IBUs. We loved the malt profile from last year so that hasn't changed. The biggest difference is of course that we have finally moved into bottle conditioning. This is the first stab at this practice here at Smuttynose and my first venture into this realm since my homebrewing days. Back then it was a matter of necessity, but now I'm really only looking to scavenge any remaining oxygen from the headspace of the bottle as we fill them. The first batch actually went fairly smoothly but then we became too smart for our own good and tried to bottle at a warmer temperature and weren't able to keep enough CO2 in solution and so ended up with a beer slightly less lively. The first batch was bottled at 45°F while the second was at 50°F. The bottle conditioning process was right out of homebrew practice with a small amount of yeast (3 gallons for 30 BBL's) and an appropriate amount of white cane sugar (dissolved in hot water) added right before bottling. That night I had a recurrence of the old nightmare (you know the one) where your couple cases of homebrew are slowly exploding in the back of the closet but you're deep into your fermentatively induced dreams and think it's your neighbor (you know the one) who wears the hunting cap, with flaps, year round taking pot shots at your right front tire. Now multiply this nightmare by the fact that it's not 2 cases but upwards of 500, sloooowly exploooding all night long. Alas this never happened and I've managed to keep my job through another seat of the pants experience.

The beer itself pours with a beautiful orangey white head and has an aroma of tangerines and citrus that fades into pine. The bitterness is resiny yet smooth with the malt body holding it's end up nicely. I'm getting a bunch of citrus notes with a hint of vanilla. It's definitely still hot right now but don't worry it's bottle conditioned so lay it down for six months or so at least. Enjoy.

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Upcoming Beer Releases

These dates show when we expect to release these beers at our Smerch Store. Shipments to our distribution partners will coincide with their order cycles, so you'll see new releases a little bit after the dates you see below.

Pumpkin Ale - August

Smuttlabs: Brett & I - Shipping Now!

Big Beer Series: Tripel (brand new release!) August 16

Smuttlabs: Schmutzig - August 23

Now and Then Series: Cluster's Last Stand - (Stone Collaboration) August 30

Winter Ale - October 15

Smuttlabs: Oak-Aged Tripel - TBD

Smuttlabs: Strawberry Short Weisse - Fall 2014

Smuttlabs: White IPA - TBD

Big Beer Series: S'muttonator (double bock) - November

Full Time: Baltic Porter - 12oz Four Pack, Fall 2014

Full Time: Really Old Brown Dog - 12oz Four Pack, Fall 2014

Durty (we promise to brew more) - December 13

The Smuttynose Big Beer Series

Since 1998, Smuttynose Brewing has offered its Big Beer Series, specialty beers released seasonally in very limited quantities. Although some styles appear every year, others get dropped or added to the lineup, or simply take a sabbatical for a year or two. Adding to the free-form nature of this series, our brewers are encouraged to tweak, change and experiment with recipes from one year to the next, so that one year's edition may be subtly or dramatically different from the next (or it may be exactly the same).

Since 2002, our Executive Brewer, David Yarrington, has contributed notes on each new edition of the Series, as well as on other seasonal beers, such as our Pumpkin Ale. Sometimes the notes are extensive; sometimes, if little or no changes have been made to the previous year's edition, they will be brief.

By the way, all Smuttynose Big Beers are bottle conditioned and will age quite nicely if stored properly. Starting in 2005, we've "vintage" dated our Big Beer labels to help you keep your cellar organized.

Smuttlabs

“How many things are we upon the brink of discovering if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries?” -Mary Shelley

We’re very proud of each of our Smuttynose beers, but our brewing staff has many ideas that can’t be done on a large scale; this is where Smuttlabs comes into play. From barrel-aging and beer souring to culinary collaborations and special projects that just don’t fit anywhere else, if a project is out of the ordinary, unique or time consuming, you can bet it’ll bear the Smuttlabs name.

In 2007, we began these experimental brewings, with a beer called “The Gnome” (which became Homunculus in the Big Beer Series), under the Short Batch Series name. As we’ve increased production and volumes of these eccentric beers, we’ve rechristened them “Smuttlabs,” to reflect the creative experimentation found in each batch.

Smuttlabs releases seek to bridge the gap between “rare” and “hard to find.” Brewing on these terms, success can take different forms. Some releases may have semi-regular production and others may never see a mash tun again. There will constantly be Smuttlabs beers in all phases of production from conception, to brewing and fermentation to aging and packaging.

We’ll announce Smuttlabs beers here on our blog, through social media as well as our website. We know you’ll have just as much fun seeking them out and drinking them as we do brewing them.